U.S. Pat. No. 2,925,901 discloses a continuous conveyor installation comprised of a belt storage means, consecutively arranged carrying structures and a takeover car referred to as “hopper car”. The takeover car in that case takes over the material cut or excavated by a heading or mining machine, utilizing the delivery conveyor directly connected with the heading or mining machine for lifting the material to a level where its discharge onto the takeup chute is feasible. However, particularly with relatively large-structured belt storage means, such an installation cannot be moved as desired. It is rather necessary, as a rule, to completely disassemble the belt conveyor and set it up again on the new location of use, for a new break-in and a new track to be excavated. This involves high dismounting and mounting expenditures and relatively large time losses.
Conveyor belt storage installations including a storage unit with consecutively arranged carrying structures, inter alia, are described in GB 1391612. A similar installation comprising a conveyor belt storage means is to be taken from GB 1150696, in which filling is done using vehicles that are movable in the track. In particular, when working relatively low seams, the spatial limitation resulting therefrom places high demands on the construction of such a movable conveyor belt storage installation. Considering its structural dimensions, a belt storage means would, as a rule, not be introducible into a substantially lower-height seam to be worked, so that relatively large distances would have to be traveled with the stored conveyor belt in order to enable the haulage of excavated material. The accordingly increased conveyor belt demand in the known structures calls for further enlargements of the structural dimensions.
Appropriate supports for the conveyor belt must be provided between the belt storage means and the takeover car, which itself comprises a deflection pulley for the conveyor belt pulled from the belt storage means. Consequently, also the support structures will have to be introduced into the seam to be worked. To this end, DE-A1 38 37 986 proposes a carrying structure for roller holders for upper and lower belt rollers, in which the carrying beams are telescopically displaceable within one another in groups. Such additional devices can, for instance, also be taken from U.S. Pat. No. 6,095,320, where a storage system for carrying structures is described, in which the carrying structures are arranged to be displaceable within one another by their longitudinal struts. In order to ensure the required stability, the longitudinal struts are rigidly connected with a structural beam.
From U.S. Pat. No. 4,245,738, a heading machine has finally become known, to which an extractable belt conveyor device is connected. There, the conveyor belt carrying structures required as a support can be taken from a storage means and are provided with bottom plates to ensure the necessary stability.
None of the known belt storage means, takeover cars and supporting means is size-reducible by any extent such that an accordingly largely automated use will not be readily feasible in low seams. Nor are the known devices sufficiently flexible that the disassembly and reassembly of the belt storage means could be obviated at a change from one track to another. Finally, the known takeover cars are not particularly suited for use in particularly low tracks and are, above all, limited in their mobility when traveling on roads with ditches and crowns.